


Professional Curtosey

by SluttyPamian



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Trans Male Character, a lot of self indulgant nonsense, also heterosexual nonsense, but this is good and pure heterosexual interaction, f e e l i n g s, i swear i knew how to word this before i started tagging, minor bdsm elements, shibari if you wanna get technical, theraputic bdsm i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-08 10:52:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14692683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SluttyPamian/pseuds/SluttyPamian
Summary: It was called 'Tension Management', and while it wasn't the most commonplace form of therapy, it was quite effective. One hour, and all your stress would be dismissed. No judgement, and no worries. In theory.





	Professional Curtosey

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I had intended for this to be some hot shibari action but then my shitass brain had to act up on me and I projected onto Sebastian oops sorry not sorry but I think this turned out pretty good.
> 
> I also worked on this for a long time and it's been in my drafts since before my TEW hiatus oops.

The door to the office was inconspicuous, easy to pass by. The entire building itself was obscure, a low cost place for start up businesses or people with low interest services. A man walked through the building, looking for one such office with no luck. He pulled a small business card from his pocket and read over it for the fifth time that day. In a professional looking font were the words 'Juli Kidman, tension management’ followed by the buildings address. The back of the card had a handwritten date and time, a time which had passed fifteen minutes ago. The man sighed, the appointment was non-refundable and it looked like he wasn't going to make it. A door further down the hallway opened, and out stepped a young woman. She walked down the hallway towards a vending machine and also the other man in the hallway. She paused and gave him a friendly wave and smile, which he returned though it lacked enthusiasm.

“Looking for one of the offices?” She asked as she fed a dollar into the machine.

The man walked closer to her and casually leaned against the machine.

“Yeah. I'm giving up though, I'm late for an appointment.”

The woman was likely in her twenties, short brown hair with a professional blouse and dress pants. She wore heeled shoes that made the man's feet ache just looking at them. Her face was sparsely made up, just a tad of eyeliner and possibly some sort of foundation to even her skin tone.

“Oof, I’m sure you can still catch it though. Most of the people here seem to be pretty chill about appointment times?”

The machine dropped the woman’s snack and she shrugged.

“I mean, I’m chill as fuck about my clients being late. Or rescheduling. It comes with the territory.”

She reached into the machine and took out her prize, a Twix bar. She opened it, shook it so one of the pieces peeked out of the wrapper and held it out to the man.

“I’m Juli.”

The man blinked slowly and reached for the Twix.

“Juli... Kidman?” He asked.

She seemed confused by the man’s inquiry but nodded her head.

“Yeah... Have we met?”

The man shuffled his feet nervously, embarrassment on his face.

“No not exactly... I’m uh... Sebastian. Your four-fifteen.”

Juli took a step back and looked Sebastian up and down carefully.

“Huh...” She said after some observation.

“I was expecting you to be ugly. No offense.”

Sebastian laughed.

“Ugly? Any reason why?”

Juli gave him a friendly smile and gestured to a door at the end of the hall.

“How about we discuss it in my office. You are fifteen minutes late for your appointment anyway.”

Juli popped the Twix into her mouth and led Sebastian to the door to her office. There was a plaque on the wall that read ‘Tension Management’ in elegantly engraved script. Juli opened the door and ushered Sebastian into the room. It was a nice room, spacious with a matching furniture set consisting of a coffee table, two leather chairs and a leather couch. There was a large window that overlooked the busy street below and was decorated with heavy curtains. The coffee table was in the center of the room, the couch faced the door and was almost symmetrical to the window. The chairs also were posed symmetrically, facing opposite each other on the long ends of the coffee table. Sebastian could see another part of the office leading off to the left, but from where he was standing he didn’t have a clear view.

“Looks... Sterile.” Sebastian commented.

Juli led him further into the office and gestured for him to sit on the couch. He took a seat, and saw that the other part of the office lead into a little kitchenette. It made sense, considering the building they were in used to be a low-income apartment building. Upon further inspection, Sebastian also saw a path to the right he assumed led to a bedroom and bath area.

“My girlfriend’s a nurse.” Juli called from the kitchenette.

“She helps me with decoration, organization. Inspires me.”

She came out of the kitchenette holding two mugs of what looked to be tea. She set them down on the table in front of Sebastian and sat in the chair to his left.

“Girlfriend huh? So she’s okay with...” He trailed off.

“Your line of work?”

Sebastian picked up one of the mugs and gave it a tentative sniff. Juli didn’t seem offended by Sebastian’s question and picked up her cup to take a long drink.

“Not at all. It’s actually how we met. We ran the practice together, until her employer at the hospital informed her that she would have to choose between this and her job there.”

Juli paused.

“She chose the job that pays the bills, obviously.”

Sebastian nodded respectfully and took a swig of his tea.

“I can stop sharing at any time you know. Some clients prefer to know as little about me as possible. Sometimes there’s a comfort in not knowing.”

Juli smiled warmly and set her tea down.

“But I would like to know about you, if you don’t mind. I know we’ve been corresponding by E-mail for a while, but it’s easier for me to get a feel for people in person.”

“Of course, what would you like to know.”

Juli settled into her chair, getting comfortable and watching with a small smirk as Sebastian did the same, likely without meaning to.

“Well, first I’d like to hear about your job. Not the gritty details of course, but how it affects you on a mental level. Physical too.”

Sebastian shrugged.

“Well, as you know I’m a cop so I see a lot of messed up stuff. Murders, kidnappings, drug violence... Other things I really don’t feel comfortable bringing up.”

He shifted in his chair. This was turning out to be more of a counseling session than he bargained for. Sebastian expected to enter the office, have Juli do whatever the fuck it was she was going to do, and then leave. He didn’t realize there would be so much discussion that didn’t directly relate to the... Activities, that were going to happen in the office.

“I guess it stresses me out. I can’t block everything.I mean it... Haunts me, sometimes. The more brutal stuff. It worms into my brain and grabs a hold of me.”

Juli nodded slowly.

“Do you think that’s part of the reason you came here today? To grasp control of your physical state since your mental state has been troubling you?”

The way she talked made Sebastian think idly of a department shrink he’d been to when he had been close to having a mental breakdown. Refined, almost distant, and hard to tell if she was really on his side or not.

“Well I thought the schtick here was I wasn’t going to be in control?”

Juli’s answering look made Sebastian realize he said something less than intelligent.

“You’ll have absolute control over the situation. I won’t do anything to you without your consent, and I’ll maintain an open dialogue with you for the process so I don’t violate your comfort zone. Unless you know what you want to do ahead of time, in which case I can remain quiet and wait for your cue to stop.”

“Sorry, I uh... Obviously still need to learn a thing or two. I did some research on the internet but... Well, rabbit holes and all.”

Juli’s face changed into something more sympathetic.

“Ah, yeah. I’m probably the only person who does this sort of thing for... Therapeutic reasons. But, I’ve found that sometimes unconventional works best.”

Sebastian chuckled at the explanation.

“Yeah... I can see that. I do... I do have a couple questions though. If that’s alright?”

He took a long sip of the tea and shifted nervously in his seat.

“What exactly am I allowed to... Ask you for? I mean, obviously this encounter is going to have sexual undertones but um... How far are you going to allow this to go?”

Juli had done this dance many times before and had taught herself not to laugh or show amusement when clients inevitably asked the sort of questions Sebastian just had.

“My personal rule is I don’t allow any of my clients to touch me under my clothing, or on any of my intimate areas. As for what you’d like? I’m comfortable touching my clients in any way they’d like, so long as no oral stimulation or penetration is involved.”

The directness of Juli’s answer caught Sebastian off guard, but not in an unpleasant way. In fact, it did miracles to comfort him and help put him more at ease with what he was paying Juli to do for him. It also made him gain an immense amount of respect for Juli.

“Okay, so how are we going to start?” Sebastian asked.

Juli tutted him impatiently.

“No, I don’t think we’re ready to begin discussion on how we’re going to start our session. I’d still like to learn some more about what you need. Mentally and emotionally, I think you just need some guidance that won’t cause you distress. I’ll give you some basic orders, and reward you with positive reinforcement in the form of praise and physical stimulation. What I’d still like to know, is what sort of physical needs and stressors will I have to address? Do you have any chronic pain? Recent injury you feel isn’t healing well? Tension you need worked out?”

Sebastian thought carefully about what Juli needed to know.

“Well, at the risk of sounding like an old man, my back has definitely seen better days. And I dislocated my left shoulder about a week ago busting in a door.”

Juli listened intently and nodded as she saw fit.

“Would you mind if I joined you on the couch?”

Sebastian nodded and made room for Juli. She raised her hands and gestured to Sebastian’s shoulders, and when the man nodded again she began to carefully kneed and massage at the muscle. She felt around the shoulder blade and moved along to where his shoulder met the collar bone. She could feel the tension in Sebastian’s body and frowned. She wasn’t used to someone like Sebastian visiting her office. Normally the people who came to her were stuck up executives, or even just men tired with their current relationship and wanting to try something new.

“Hmm... You’re going to be quite the case. But, I think I’ve got a game plan. So, would you rather me tell you everything I plan to do, or would you feel more comfortable if I simply directed and manipulated you how I deem fit?”

An anxious excitement bubbled in Sebastian. This was what he came here for, and the fact that the main event so to speak was about to start unnerved him. He wasn’t sure if knowing he would be in control made it any easier, or harder to wrap his head around.

“I guess... I guess I’ll trust you to do what you think is right. I don’t want to know.”

Juli smiled warmly.

“Of course Sebastian. Now, I like to incorporate a little bit of fun into these things, so from this point on you’ll call me Madam. If you need me to stop, you say ‘stop, Madam’, if you need me to slow down, you say ‘wait, Madam’. You’ll answer all of my questions either ‘yes, Madam’ or ‘no, Madam’ unless I tell you otherwise. Do you understand?”

It took Sebastian a moment to realize that he was supposed to answer, and after a few quick blinks he found his voice.

“Yes... Madam.”

Juli smiled and gave Sebastian a playful pat on the shoulder.

“Good boy. Now, go down that hallway and take the first door on the left. When you’re in the room, you’ll kneel facing the foot of the bed with your hands behind your back.”

She leaned over and brought her lips to Sebastian’s ear with a devious smirk.

“These heels are a pain in the ass,” She whispered.

“I’m going to go put on a pair of novelty socks.”

Sebastian wasn’t sure if he was allowed to laugh or not, so he kept quiet and nodded his head obediently before walking to the room Juli instructed. It was much different from the main room of the office. Heavily decorated with mood lighting, an oil diffuser, plush bedding, and hanging from the walls enough BDSM gear to make a leather enthusiast sweat. In one part of the room was a large full body mirror with ornate carvings. Sebastian took his position at the foot of the bed as he was told, but couldn’t stop his eyes from roaming around the room. He wondered if Juli ever slept in her office, considering it had a bed and a kitchen. He was about to readjust his arms when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and he made a surprised noise. Juli chuckled behind him, and the grip on his shoulder tightened. Thankfully, it was the shoulder he didn’t dislocate a week ago.

“Do you like the room?” Juli asked, a different timbre in her voice.

“Yes, madam.” Sebastian responded obediently.

Already he had a strange feeling spreading through him. He couldn’t tell if it was because the reality of what was going on set in, that he had actually paid for a professional dominatrix to have control over him for an hour, or maybe it was because he was finally cracking under the pressure of his work and personal life. Whatever the reason, he didn’t have much time to ponder it further because Juli knelt behind Sebastian and placed both hands on his shoulders.

“Are you going to be a good boy for me, Sebastian?”

Juli ran her hands along his shoulders and down his back teasingly. Sebastian swallowed hard to keep his voice even before answering her.

“Yes, madam.”

Juli raked her nails teasingly along the back of Sebastian’s neck and walked around to the foot of the bed. She took a seat on the bed, lifting up one leg and placing her foot on the front of Sebastian’s pants. He inhaled sharply, surprised by how sudden and forward she was, and looked at her with wide eyes. He risked a glance down at his crotch, and saw Juli wasn’t kidding when she said she was going to put on novelty socks. If he wasn’t so shocked by her actions, he’d be laughing at the fact he was looking at a sock decorated with pickles wearing sunglasses.

“Massage my leg.” Juli commanded in a quiet voice.

Sebastian looked at her with a deer in the headlight look, which did not please Juli. She pressed her foot more insistently against Sebastian’s crotch and frowned at him. Sebastian gasped, unsure if the feeling was pleasant or not. Not wanting to motivate Juli to press even harder, he did as he was instructed and began to massage Juli’s leg. He started at the ankle and slowly worked his way up to her knee, where he looked to her for further instruction. Juli rewarded him with a warm smile and took her foot away from Sebastian’s crotch.

“Thank you, that was wonderful.” She told him gently.

She got off the bed and gestured for Sebastian to get on it.

“Get on your hands and knees Sebastian, and close your eyes. You’re not to open them until I tell you.”

“Yes, madam.”

Sebastian did as he was told, having the decency to of course toe off his shoes before climbing onto the bed. Juli manipulated him slightly, moving him into a position that was more fitting to her vision. In this position, Sebastian was sitting on his knees, but with his back arched slightly and his weight being supported by the palms of his hands resting on the bed. Juli sat behind Sebastian and rubbed his back, finding tense spots and massaging away the knots in his muscles.

“You’re doing fantastic so far.” Juli praised.

“Such a great listener, very trusting. Would you like to go on?”

A small shiver ran down Sebastian’s back as he answered with a quiet ‘yes, madam.’ Juli hummed quietly and repositioned herself so she was pressing her torso against Sebastian's back with her lips close to his ear.

“You expressed some concerns about your body in our correspondences, would you feel comfortable disrobing for me?”

Juli felt Sebastian tense under her. It was entirely possible of course, for them to continue with Sebastian fully clothed, but part of Juli’s plan was to strip away all of Sebastian's physical barriers and concerns to improve his mental state. She knew she was asking a lot of Sebastian, and understood that she might be pushing his limit of comfort.

“... Yes, madam...” Was his eventual, quiet reply.

Juli guided Sebastian to turn around and face her and placed her hands on the buttons of his shirt.

“May I undress you?”

Sebastian paused, and answered with a shake of his head. Juli pulled her hands away from him and folded them neatly on her lap.

“Would you like some privacy?”

Sebastian nodded his head, then answered with a slightly unsure 'yes, madam.’ when he remembered the rules Juli had set in place. She held Sebastian's hand for a brief moment and gave it a reassuring squeeze before instructing him to call for her when he was ready to continue and leaving the room. He waited a moment after she left, took a deep breath, and slowly began to undress. He untucked his shirt first and worked open the buttons before shrugging it off and tossing it on the floor like he would at home. Underneath the shirt was what looked like a regular tank top. The upper half of the tank top was made of a tightly woven material and didn't offer much stretch, while the back side and the rest of the tank top was much more stretchy. The entire tank hugged Sebastian's body tightly and compressed his chest. He took a couple of slow, deep breaths, and gripped the bottom of the tank top and lifted it up. It was a struggle to get it off, and he needed to move his shoulder in an uncomfortable way to finally escape the constricting fabric. Once it was off, Sebastian breathed shallowly and gradually began to breathe deeper as he massaged his aching ribs.

With the tank top removed, Sebastian's bare chest was exposed. He looked back at the door Juli was waiting on the other side of. In their correspondences, he never revealed to her that he was transgender. He had uncomfortable experiences with people in the past when they found out he was transgender, and worried that when Juli saw him she would react negatively. She advertised catering to both men and women, but no matter how many times he told himself he was just as much of a man as anyone else, Sebastian always had the nasty little voice in the back of his head that told him he wasn't, and that everyone else thought so too. He was all too aware of his breasts as he removed his pants and underwear, and sitting on the bed completely naked made him twitch anxiously. He finally decided to pick up his shirt and lay it over his lap, as if his breasts weren't obvious enough. The clock was running, Sebastian needed to get on with it.

“Juli? I'm uh... Ready.” He called.

He kept his back to the door and closed his eyes when he heard it open. Juli approached the bed silently and Sebastian had no idea where she was until he felt the bed dip with her weight. She touched him lightly, without a word, fingertips barely grazing his skin. Sebastian shuddered from the contact and tried to close his eyes even tighter, as if to disappear.

“You're doing fine Sebastian.” Juli purred.

“There's nothing here you don't want.”

She left the bed and walked around to sit on the floor in front of Sebastian. Sebastian still refused to open his eyes, even when he felt Juli remove the shirt and gently nudge apart Sebastian's legs.

“May I touch you Sebastian?”

Juli was quiet, yet still held a confident tone in her voice. 

“Yes, madam.” He responded in a whisper.

Juli began by caressing the insides of Sebastian’s thighs and gently massaging the muscle there. Sebastian held his breath as she worked, too tense to do anything else. She could obviously see him in her position, and he waited for her to... Well, freak out. Instead of freaking out however, Juli just continued touching and exploring him. Her hands paused inches from Sebastian’s center and she lightly dragged her nails along the skin, not daring to touch anything to private yet. For the first time since disrobing, Sebastian dared to open his eyes and look at Juli. Her expression was even, reassuring, and she looked up at Sebastian with the barest hints of curiosity. She offered him a small smile when he looked at her and placed a hand on his hip.

“May I touch you?”

Sebastian barely suppressed a noise at Juli’s request. He knew, obviously, what she was really asking based on the tone of her voice and the look she gave him. And he knew, obviously, that this is what she was getting paid to do, but that didn’t stop him from feeling unsure. Juli could sense Sebastian’s hesitation and sat back from him. Sebastian’s first thought was he must have done something wrong, ruined the mood, until Juli offered him the biggest smile he had gotten from her yet.

“I think I’ve figured it out...” She murmured.

She left the bedside and walked over to where she was storing some of her gear. She opened a dresser drawer and rifled around a moment before pulling out a long length of rope. He wasn’t as surprised as he thought he would’ve been at the sight of it; maybe because he had expected to be tied up right off the bat, or maybe because he had a little experience with it himself. He watched Juli expectantly as she returned to his side with the rope and unraveled it so he could see the full length. He hadn’t worked with quite so much before and wasn’t sure exactly what Juli planned to do with it. She put it over the back of his neck so the ends hung down and around him like two halves of a tie. The tie analogy seemed fairly on point, because next she made several knots in descending spots down his torso. She then brought the ends of the rope over and around his shoulders to run the rope along his arms while lacing together in a crossed pattern. It was fancy stuff that Sebastian never had much interest in before, only seeing it a couple times in porn.

“Stand for me.” Juli calmly instructed.

“Yes madam.”

Once Sebastian was standing, Juli took both of his laced arms and positioned them behind his back and looped them together. She was running out of rope at this point, his arms and torso being a criss cross of lines. She wasn’t done however, and brought the remainder of the rope between Sebastian’s legs, up his torso, and back around to where his hands were bound. She looped the remainder of the rope somewhere around his wrists, and then began to adjust what she had already laced. As she adjusted the rope, it began to tighten around Sebastian and hold him snugly. The rope between his legs pressed against his clit and even the slightest movement made it rub against him. He was thankful it was a softer material otherwise it would likely cause him discomfort, but even with how soft it was, the simple act of breathing was enough to make it rub against him. Juli had obviously laced his torso with his ribs in mind, and hardly any pressure was applied in areas that would cause him discomfort. The ropes also supported his breasts and kept them lifted up and to the side in a similar fashion to his binder. Juli spent a moment more examining the ropes elegantly crossing Sebastian’s body, tugging them, adjusting them so that they were perfectly spaced. When she was done, she cupped Sebastian’s cheek and smiled at him warmly.

“Now Sebastian, I need you to get on your knees.”

She didn’t wait for Sebastian to respond and tugged him to his knees by the main rope going down his torso. She moved behind him and put her hands on his shoulders and gave them a squeeze.

“Go ahead and try to wiggle out of the ropes.”

Sebastian flexed his muscles and the ropes shifted. He made an honest attempt at getting out of them, even trying to grab part of them and pull them apart to no avail. All his struggles did was make the rope rub against his clit. He wasn’t particularly aroused, but the stimulation was doing a good enough job of getting him there. 

“I can’t get out.” Sebastian told her.

Juli tightened her grip on Sebastian’s shoulders.

“Are you sure?” She purred in his ear.

“What’s stopping you from getting out?”

She tugged on the rope and Sebastian squeezed his legs together.

“Hng, maybe because you’re some sort of rope professional?” He snarked.

Juli chuckled at his response and patted his head like you would a small child.

“Anything else stopping you from getting out?” She asked.

She gave the rope another tug. It was almost uncomfortable, but between Sebastian’s irritation at the line of questioning and his earlier struggles, the discomfort was strangely welcome.

“Maybe it’s not the rope you’re trying to get out of.” Juli observed.

“Maybe there’s something else you’re trying to escape?”

She reached around Sebastian and cupped his breasts. He tensed as she did and rolled his hips to try and adjust the rope rubbing him. His face was heating up, and he either wanted to get the rope off of him, or have a decent chance to touch himself instead of just vainly getting off on the rope. Juli’s hands were soft, dextrous and obviously knew what to do with a pair of breasts. She toyed with his nipples and moved down his torso slowly and tugged at the rope. Sebastian grunted quietly and wiggled more to stimulate himself while Juli continued tugging.

“Do you hate yourself?”

The question caught Sebastian off guard, but Juli spoke on before he could even think of answering.

“I don’t think you do. I think you’re a very proud and confident man. I think you’re tired of having to do so much to be seen as who you want to be. I think it’s incredibly unfair what you have to go through every day.”

Sebastian closed his eyes and hunched over. 

“What do you know about ‘unfair?’” He growled.

“Nothing Sebastian. I’ll never understand what you go through.”

“Then why even bring it up?”

Sebastian was torn between his growing annoyance and arousal. 

“This is ‘tension management’, Sebastian. This is one of your tensions.”

Juli tweaked Sebastian’s nipples suddenly as she said that, causing him to nearly bite through his lip holding back a moan. 

“This is the only thing we didn’t talk about earlier. I’d like to talk about it.”

Sebastian chuckled in defeat.

“Fine, we’ll talk.”

Juli made a content hum and continued to play with Sebastian’s nipples. They were silent for a moment, Juli idly touching Sebastian while he made no effort to hide the fact he was trying to get himself off on the rope rubbing against his clit. Juli let him continue until he was flustered and beginning to pant quietly before reaching around him and pulling the rope away from his clit so he wouldn’t be able to get off.

“What’s the hardest part, Sebastian? For you?”

“The hardest part... Is never being sure. I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am. And there’s still so much more I want to do. But, everywhere I go, I have to always be thinking about what other people are going to think of me. Sometimes, I’ll get told ‘don’t worry about what other people think, you do you, be who you are’. It doesn’t work like that.”

As he spoke, Juli gradually loosened the ropes binding him.

“Other times... I get told to be happy the way I am. Or I get told this is a phase. Even now. At first, I thought I was just a butch lesbian. Then, I mean, obviously I realized I don’t meet any of the criteria for being a lesbian. But, I still feel like sometimes I would’ve been better off. But, that wouldn’t really make me happy.”

He sighed.

“But, sometimes I forget how to be happy like this.”

The last of the ropes fell away from Sebastian and Juli embraced him tenderly from behind.

“It’s alright Sebastian. It’s a process, just like everything else in life. You’re strong, you’re brave. I know that you have what it takes to be the best man you can. I’m so proud of you.”

Juli led Sebastian to the bed where she had him lay with her. Sebastian felt exhausted, physically and mentally. He hadn’t realized how drained he’d feel, and hardly anything happened except some talking and teasing. Juli certainly was worth the fee.

“We still have some time Sebastian, would you like to get off?”

Sebastian smirked and nodded. Juli slid her hand down Sebastian’s chest, ghosting touches to his breasts as her fingers drew closer and closer to their intended target. She circled Sebastian’s clit slowly, listening to his subtle changes of breath and watching with a fond smile as his own lids fluttered closed in relaxation. She took one of Sebastian’s hands and guided it to rest on her hip as they adjusted position on the bed, now facing each other with their foreheads touching. It was slow going, a gradual build up instead of a hurried wank. By the time Sebastian reached his climax, he was slowly moving his hips into Juli’s touch and humming contentedly. This climax was different than what he was used to, there was no snapping tension or overwhelming sensation, it was a gentle release that settled over and spread through him. Juli took her fingers back, wiping the excess fluids on the blanket they laid on top of.

They laid in the bed together until Sebastian’s time ran out, and when it did Juli brought Sebastian a warm washcloth to wipe down with and helped him dress. She then asked if he’d stay for a final cup of tea before leaving, an offer he accepted with polite thanks and a smile. Their tea was shared in a comfortable silence, Sebastian spending most of the time lazily watching as Juli bounced her foot from side to side while her legs were half tucked onto one of the chairs in the office. Once the tea was finished, Juli offered Sebastian a final handshake and asked if he was pleased with his appointment. Sebastian’s answer was an easy one.

“Yes, madam.”


End file.
